Day 142

1 Samuel 10:9-12:25, John 12:37-13:17, Psalms 66:1-12

Sometimes people just don’t get it!

Jesus has done so many miracles, he’s raised the dead of all things, and yet the “Jews continue in their unbelief”. Samuel takes another look in the Old Testament at the history through the Exodus, we see the greats of Moses and Aaron and some of the judges. In these names we are reminded of the amazing things that God has done. In Jesus we are reminded of the great things that God has continued to do in Christ. And yet the unbelief continues. And so Jesus strips off to his waist and goes down on his hands and his knees to wash his disciples feet.

We have already pointed to the link between Saul and Jesus, the first and last king. Taking into account this unbelief, we find that Jesus humbles himself further. The King of Kings who gave up the palatial surroundings of heaven and came to earth then goes even further and gets his hands dirty.

Psalm 66 offers  us one of the Psalms that could be set to music again. This song of praise would once be set to music and could rival anything that we may have sang at Soul Survivor, New Wine or on a Sunday morning. This is praise at its best. It speaks of God on the big (macro) level and God on the personal (micro) level and we would do well to base our own devotions and praise upon it.

Jesus is not just doing something nice for his disciples though. If we are the kind of people who would sing the song in Psalm 66, if we want to call ourselves disciples, then Jesus is telling us that we too need to get our hands dirty.  Feet are treated in many different ways. They can be really sensual and personal or they can be really embarrassing and something we find horrid. Christ is willing to get that personal, he wants to be involved in the things that embarrass me.

If Christ is willing to wash my smelly, horrible calloused feet, then I too should be willing to be Christ for someone else. What about you?